Fraudster to be sentenced in N.S. before pleading guilty in N.B.

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A Quebec man facing fraud charges in New Brunswick will be sentenced in Nova Scotia before entering pleas in this province.

Omar Zanfi, 25, of Laval, was charged in the fall with seven indictable offences that allege he unlawfully scammed tens of thousands of dollars from people in this region. He’s charged with six counts of fraud exceeding $5,000, including defrauding Sandra Allen, Robert LeBlanc, Joan Carson and Patricia Gobie in Moncton on Dec. 5, 2022, and Irene McMackin in Riverview on that same date, as well as John Barber on Dec. 7, 2022, and conspiring with unknown persons at or near Moncton between Dec. 4-8, 2022, to defraud Elizabeth Kenny and other persons in Moncton of sums of money.

Defence lawyer Nathan Gorham was in Moncton provincial court on Wednesday while his client was not present. He said Zanfi wants to deal with his charges at the provincial court level but is not ready to enter pleas.

“The Crown and I are discussing a resolution which will be guilty pleas to certain charges that are undetermined at this time,” he said.

Gorham explained that Zanfi has already pleaded guilty to similar charges in Halifax for offences that are “connected factually” and the manner those charges are resolved will affect how the Moncton charges are resolved. He said the next hearing in Halifax in the case is June 13 and asked for a Moncton court date after that to deal with these charges. As a result, the court adjourned pleas to June 25.

Nova Scotia police alleged Zanfi was part of a scam targeting individuals and causing them to fear for a family member’s well-being. Halifax police said in a Dec. 7, 2022, news release that they had charged a man in relation to multiple fraud investigations that occurred in the region in November 2022.

The news release said between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, Halifax Regional Police and Halifax District RCMP received a number of reports in relation to similar frauds. Police said the victims were contacted by fraudsters pretending to be a relative in need of money because they had been arrested and required bail money. Police said the call was then usually taken over by another person pretending to be in a position of authority, such as a police officer or a lawyer, instructing the victim to provide the cash for bail.

Police said the fraudsters then sent a fake bail bondsman to the victim‘s address to collect the money or ask that it be sent by courier.

Police arrested a man in Moncton and the suspect was brought back to Halifax, according to the news release.

Zanfi was charged in Halifax provincial court on Dec. 7, 2022, with four counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of fraud under $5,000, four counts of possessing property obtained by crime worth more than $5,000 and two counts under $5,000, along with a charge of participating in a criminal organization.

Zanfi was initially in custody after his December 2022 arrest, but was later released.